Unnecessary Tragedy

I’m catching up from news throughout the week and I just can’t believe this story.

If you don’t feel like clicking on the link, the reader’s digest version is that an 8-year-old Connecticut boy attended a gun show with his father. His father gave him permission to fire an UZI with live rounds while a certified specialist from the gun club supervised. The kid fired, lost control due to the recoil, and ended up shooting himself fatally in the head.

OK, look…I want to get a few things straight here. I am not some leftist moonbat who wants to ban all guns. I believe in the second amendment to a point. I think responsible gun owners should be able to bear arms for hunting, home protection, etc. I believe very much in gun laws and heavy restrictions, but I think it is wrong for the government to ban guns completely.

That having been said, I do not believe there is any reason that people — military personnel notwithstanding — should be able to have automatic weapons. And I certainly don’t think an 8-year-old should be firing any gun, nevermind a friggin UZI.

But let’s stick with the incident and the poor kid who died. First of all, the gun show PROMOTED itself as a family event. I think there’s something very wrong with that in and of itself. Second — and I’m speaking strictly as a parent now — the father of this child should be ashamed of himself. I know he’s going through a grief that’s unimaginable right now and I pity him for that, but it’s a grief that was completely avoidable on his part. He gave his 8-year-old son permission to fire a fully-loaded UZI. Now I’ve never fired a gun (nor do I want to) so I don’t know how strong the recoil on an UZI is. But that just doesn’t matter. Because an 8-year-old should never have come in contact with an automatic weapon. And it’s not like the kid went behind his dad’s back and did this on his own…the dad GAVE HIM PERMISSION and was taking a picture as his son killed himself. That’s sick and completely irresponsible as a parent.

And make no mistake, partial blame belongs with the gun show and the certified “safety” attendant who was supposed to be supervising everything. I know guns are big business, but don’t you think a grown man who is trained to handle guns on a daily basis would think to himself “Gee, I’m not sure if a little kid should be using an UZI. Maybe I should put a stop to this.” The lack of common sense in this case is literally deadly.

Groups like the NRA are already trying to spin this, and that’s expected. Guns don’t kill people — people kill people. Whatever. That’s all well and good but in this case a little boy was killed BECAUSE OF A GUN. So, in fact, guns do kill people. Especially automatic weapons, whose sole purpose is for expedient killing. Seriously, how can you argue that? Who goes deer hunting with an UZI? It’s just ridiculous.

I know there are some of you out there who are gun owners and you’re probably teaching your kids to shoot as well. While I don’t agree with that and will expressly forbid my own son from firing a gun until he’s 18 years old, I won’t knock it and I wouldn’t want to see that end. I know the vast majority of gun owners fall into the responsible category, and in many families it’s a time honored tradition to learn how to shoot and go hunting. I’m OK with that. But I’m not OK with an 8-year-old firing an UZI and I’m not OK with that boy’s father being OK with it. That was wrong. Dead wrong.

I hope this boy’s death is not totally in vain and perhaps this incident will help bring about the elimination of civilians owning automatic weapons. And for those against gun control…well, explain to me how you continue to make your arguments when there’s an 8-year-old boy needlessly in the morgue because he accidentally shot himself in the head with an UZI?

You don’t have to be Father of the Year to know that 8-year-old + loaded UZI = tragedy. Just awful.

10 thoughts on “Unnecessary Tragedy”

As a responsible gun owner of many guns that are NOT automatic, I think it is insane that anyone would hand an 8 year old an UZI (the one that was used was/is a 9mm) the recoil is not all that great…if your pulling off one bullet at a time. However when you are shooting in excess of 30 bullets in fourteen seconds..yeah there is a recoil which even at 5’7″ and 200lb’s, I would have a problem standing upright, perfectly still.

As a person who carries a gun for hunting and home protection, I believe that this incident was entirely the parents fault as well as the “Safety” expert. These people should be prosecuted. My 11 year old son and ten year old daughter have both been in hunting and gun safety classes however, I NEVER EVER allow my children to utilize a gun any larger then their size (they both own child size rifles, 22’s and shot guns) They are always shown the correct way of handling the guns, where and how to shoot them etc. it’s not that Guns kill people, People with a lack of knowledge or lack of intelligeance, kill people.

The problem being that their are the people who will try to ban and tax people even more for any and all weapons. Yes automatics should stay in the hands of people like me who have lots of practice and actually might need to use them for their intended purpose. No one should hunt with an AUTO thats retarded, but i know they are out there and ruin reputations for all the people who love the outdoors not just hunters. Sorry for the families loss but someone should definitely be prosecuted for this I mean come on……

I’m talking automatic weapons here, not pistols or hunting rifles. Uzis are made for one purpose – killing people. They serve no other purpose, are made for no other reason.

As a result, there is no need for anyone other than military or law enforcement personnel to own them, and certainly no reason for 8 year olds to shoot them.

This kid should never have been given an Uzi, and the parents and the gun club deserve responsibility. But the gun killed him, along with their neglect and irresponsibility. The Uzi and other automatic weapons have no place in residential homes.

I agree completely, did you see the news article about the young trick-or-treater who was shot on Halloween with an automatic gun because the ex-con inside thought he was being robbed, and was “protecting himself.” The boy died from gunshot to the head, his father and brother were also wounded. The shooter never even opened his door, just emptied his rifle through it.

Something is seriously wrong with the ownership of automatic weapons in our land.

The issues that you bring up are very interesting. I’ve had this same discussion with several friends etc. Military personnel and parents, all of them say the same you did. Gun (especially UZI) plus 8 year old =tragedy.

With that said however, I did hear about how some families that are hunters, so hand things over to kids like heirlooms etc., and that this kid was under parental supervision. What kind of parental supervision was this? Did it back fire? Did it flip with the power of the shot? Was it truly and really a tragedy that NO one expected? Maybe they needed to be more educated? I mean I’ve seen people give kids balloons and I freak out about that and tell people to take them away from my young kids (not my 3 year old). But if a balloon can be dangerous…just doesn’t make sense to me the parents don’t see how an UZI is okay…

This should fall under the “endangering” a child, in my opinion. But I don’t necesarily think that changing the law from 21 years old to 18 would have prevented this. I think the law should be more specific. Like an education class on giving children an UZI.

It definately is a sad story, but you’re right. The poor kid lost his life because some irresposible “adults” let him hold and fire a gun that most responsible and trained people shouldn’t use. Too sad.

Sorry I’ve been absent, Aaron. Keeping up with this bloggy business is a much bigger job than I expected before I had anyone commenting.

This story wrecked me when I saw it on the news. Here was this beautiful boy about the same age as my son, and he died in the most incredibly stupid incident I think I’ve ever heard of. I won’t call it an accident, because he was put in that situation by his very well-educated ER doctor father and “trained instructors.”

I HATE guns! I’m quite certain that the right to bear arms was not meant to allow UZI’s to be in the hands of the public. There are so many idiots in this world that there has to be some restrictions. I’m not saying take all guns away from people, but there should be tons of restrictions on automatic weapons. And there should be no more “Family Days” where young kids get to shoot big guns.